When it hits the fan.

Most of us have been there, side-lined from the action and hating it. We take a hit when we had planned for success.

I can group the things I have learned and continue to learn from side-liners in my life into two groups. I learn about myself and I learn in my spiritual walk, I believe both are essential to health and well-being.

It is helpful and enlightening.

It may have been an emotional undoing not visible to others, or it may have been an outward doing that is openly (and miserably) visible to others. Regardless, it was a hit that caught our breath, stopped our progress, and silenced us in some way.

I call it a “quiet space” because it forces a person to slow down and take personal inventory. Fighting the circumstance is not helpful or productive, it makes a person angry and bitter. Accepting the circumstance, learning what we can learn and then making positive choices will initiate and bring about some positives during a “quiet place” in our lives.

Truths we learn about ourselves.

1. I am resilient: I am stronger than I think I am. I can manage the hard things that life throws out at me even when I think I can’t do it. I will get through this.
2. I am gifted: I have untapped inner strength. I can let go of what holds me back and my inner self-doubt. I can find my potential and develop it until it becomes useful in my life.
3. People care about me: Friends and family will help me. They want to see me beat this thing and become confident. Because they love me, they won’t allow me to slide away.
4. I discover who I am: Throughout the crisis and its aftermath, I discover that I have abilities and talents that are/were unknown or buried. It is a joy to find these qualities that I bring to the table, and to implement new positive ways of doing and living life.
5. I develop breadth as a person: Soul-searching brings a personal awareness that grows me as a person. Embracing change is a positive for implementing and producing healthy growth in several areas: physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectually, resourcefully, social interacting, self-initiative and personal-development.

Spiritual skills we learn and apply.

1. I learn to trust in God: I trust in Him for the unknown,  for my physical, emotional, spiritual welfare, and to provide everything I need.
2. I learn to listen to God: Though listening to God, I become finely attune to His desires for me, open to His touch and ministrations, closer in relationship with Him, and experience an on-going cleansing and renewing in my inner person.
3. I learn to depend on God: I quit being in-charge of my life and destiny. I acknowledge His care. I learn to trust and believe when there’s no other way. This expands me to greater faith in God’s love, mercy, and care.
4. I learn to follow God’s lead and His will: I begin to go in new directions with my life. When a door opens, I go for it without hesitation. I grasp God’s loving intention for me, redirecting my energy in the right places and letting go of self’s protective walls and self’s limited projections. I release me to follow Him.
5. I wait with expectation: I learn and develop patient anticipation with a belief in God’s divine purpose for me. This teaches me to rest in God’s best, to stop impulsivity in my life and to wait until the door is opened unto me.

Those quiet times have purpose.

Those times when we sit on the sidelines due to illness, employment struggles, financial crisis, familial disruptions, emotional depletion or depression, are those times when we ask, seek and knock in newer areas. Often, these are life-changing interruptions of divine intent. Our projection for the future will be gently turned in a new direction, one that often brings greater purpose and meaning to our life. Just ask any of us who’ve been there.

We will say it was worth it in the long haul.

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